Craic Sauce

The latest harvest season update from the Craic Crew!

It’s summer and we’re taking you behind the scenes of what’s happening with the Craic Crew!

Vibes are high! It may be the Celtics. It may be the weather. But it's definitely because have some awesome tastings lined up, and we have 7 sauces for you to sample! This where to find us and get the last of our Single Source hot sauces with our handcrafted vinegar before they sell out! Thursday - Tewksbury Farmers Market 4-7, Medford Farmers Market 3-7, and our first demo at the Alfresca Market in Tewksbury 5-7 Friday - we'll be keeping an eye on the weather, but if it shapes up the Lowell Farmers Market right by the new garage off Dutton St. Saturday - it's a big one with an Atkins Farm demo in Amherst 11-2, Marlborough 9-1, Wakefield 9-1, Waltham Farmers Market 9:30-2, and then the Westford Strawberry Festival 10-3 Sunday - we're rolling with our SoWa Sunday crew. We appreciate your support and hope to see you out there!

The Merrimack Black is back! Its third batch in as many years. This sauce was our first collaboration sauce back in 2022, and is only possible with the active involvement from our partners. There's the three step process that begins with Navigation Brewing Co making their Black Pepper Porter, which they release around Thanksgiving every year. Then F-Word Farm takes that beer and makes a black pepper porter vinegar, and then Craic Sauce takes that vinegar after it has a chance to age and combines it with all the produce we put in it. The produce portion has more local partners with beautiful chocolate scorpion peppers grown specifically for us by Liberty Hill Farm and North of Boston providing the ginger and Japanese sweet potato that is fire roasted. After caramelization, simmering the ingredients in stout and Black Pepper Porter vinegar, this sauce brings a hearty, rich, and powerful flavor that many deem to be their favorite Craic Sauce. This sauce really still has the same signature flavor. Here's the slight difference. The recipe called for 72 oz of chocolate scorpion. We had 82 oz of gorgeous frozen Chocolate Scorpion peppers. In the moment when I was deciding how much to put in, I revisited the feedback form passionate Merrimack Black fans, and they said "SEND IT!" So sent it we did! It's about 10-15% hotter than last year, but still in the solid medium category of heat. My favorite pairings have been adding this to steak and rice, broccoli, mixing a bit with soy sauce or (dare I say ketchup). I tend to add this to protein dense meals, but there is so much room for exploring and sharing your experimentations. This sauce is available at local stockists, for use at restaurants, and we’ll have it stocked at our markets and online. Slainte! https://lnkd.in/eXCwkfNU

So it's National Hot Sauce Day, and I thought on a cold winter day, it would be nice to reflect on this hot sauce journey! It's been 10 years having a low-key obsession with hot sauce, starting with Craft Hot Sauce thanks to a new hire project with HubSpot. We've met so many equally passionate and obsessed people from Berlin to Zimbabwe and as close as down a few houses in Lowell, Mass. Here's to the craft hot sauce community and encouragement with experimenting, learning, connecting, and getting lit up on the occasional ghost pepper! #crafthotsauce #nationalhotsauceday

Our local farm partners are always there for us. North of Boston Farm was ready at 10am this morning at Farm Lowell, despite the foot of snow we got and their trip down here taking two hours instead of the normal 30 minutes. We bought $300 of ginger and shallots from North of Boston that will be going into our Brian Boru's Curry ferments, and they bought $200 of hot sauce that they will be selling at their farm store in Boxford. I love mutually beneficial connections between farmer, value-added producer and our local economy and community. The glue is the community. They meet us at farmers markets, stimulate the local economy and are the ones that make going the extra mile well worth it. Thank you North of Boston, all our other farm partners, and all of the people that keep this engine humming!  #knowyourfarmer #valueadded #farming #localeconomy #hotsauce #cpgindustry

While I usually advocate embracing the present moment, I find myself naturally inclined to look back on the year and reflect. Particularly when certain moments are fleeting, it becomes even more meaningful to revisit them. So, without further ado, allow me to present a concise recap of the year gone by for Craic Sauce.

Are you pairing red or green with your lobster roll? Find our 40 Shades of Green Chilli and Mill City Red sauces at Luke's Lobster in the Back Bay. They've been a big inspiration to Craic Sauce after hearing their How I Built This with Guy Raz episode and learning about their focus on establishing and maintaining local relationships with producers. I must also say they have a very cozy and holiday festive vibe at their Back Bay location. Go give them a visit and report back on which hot sauce you opted for!